Any Opinions on this MIG Welder?

shinnlinger said:

I would be very intersted in your goop. I did get a felt wiper treated with somthing but it didn't do much. Is you wiper before the wire feed? I would think a lubed wire would make it tough to get enough traction to push it through.

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Me too! What's your Magic goop? Do you just squirt it on the spool?

PBinWA said:

Hobart now has a new smaller Handler in 210 which is around $830 on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HOBART-HANDLER-...Z004QQcategoryZ113743QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

A spool gun can be added later but they sure are nice. You can get some annoying wire feeding issues with the standard mig gun. Also, if you are never going to use a big spool of wire then the spool gun is pretty convenient. It is pretty much a "must have" for aluminum MIG. Whatever model you buy you should research what it is going to cost to add the spool gun to it later. For my MM175, adding a Spool Gun will end up costing my $600-800 - which is about what I paid for the welder.

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That is truly amazing... an identically-rated welder by the same manufacturer at one half the weight of the Ironman 210. Check out this comparison page:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/pdf/comparisons/handler210.pdf

Thanks very much for pointing that out!

Dougster

olcowhand said:

I've welded a lot of aluminum with standard MIG guns, but the trick is to keep the work as far as possible from the welder, so as to keep the wire in a straight line. Otherwise you're asking for a quick "birdnesting" of the al. wire.
Century also makes great welders. What I have now is a Clarke 180EN, made in italy & is a good welder. If I'm not badly mistaken, Clarke makes the Sears Craftsman welders. My 180 cost me $450 and came with regulator.

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I had a Clark 130EN before I got my MillerMatic 175. The Clark unit actually fed wire better than my Miller. I'm even considering getting the Clark Hotshot 180 Spoolgun version for aluminum.

Mark,

Wheres the goop?

OH...man. CRS, I totally forgot about the stuff. I promise to get the information in the morning. I'll even take a picture of the can (if i can remember)

Sorry.

GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP

OK...."My Dog Ate My Homework", "I have the flu", "I lost the keys to my shop", "The check is in the mail"..........

Actually I took a few pictures of the little can of goop, but either the battery is too low or, somehow the pictures won't load. The camera is sitting here charging and I'll give it a few hours and try again. REALLY!

shinnlinger said:

GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP
GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP GOOP

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THE GOOP:


If you can't make out the label is says "Cuts Rust"...and man does it.
The other picture is to show how clean and rust free my wire is after using it about 3-4 months ago.

and there was much rejoicing...

Thanks mark I will try to get me bottle.....or 3

Just $6.80 per little can. Here's a link to purchase on internet. It's next to last, bottom of page.
http://www.airgas.com/browse/product_list.aspx?catID=431&WT.svl=431

Thanks cowhand.

If I can't find it locally (or I can for only $20 a can) I will keep your airgas link open. They have a shop just across the way in VT so I can swing in there if all else fails.

Mark777 said:

THE GOOP:


If you can't make out the label is says "Cuts Rust"...and man does it.
The other picture is to show how clean and rust free my wire is after using it about 3-4 months ago.

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Mark, thanks for sharing with us. It's a product that I wasn't familar with, and I wish I had some. I changed wire today and dug out a 44# roll of .045 and did I get a shock. Rust...rust...rust! I hand spooled several, and I mean several, feet off trying to get down to good stuff. It got a little better so gave it a try. Crap! That's what my welds were looking like. Wire wouldn't feed smoothly, start-stop, start-stop, you get the picture. Finally gave up and ground down the welds and went to the house for a cold one. Actually a couple. (Kicked at the dog on the way in). I have an Airgas supplier about 50 miles away, so will call him and see if he's got it in stock. I keep most of my welding consumables in an old refrig with a 75 w bulb on all the time. We had a 7 day power failure due to ice a few weeks back, so must have started then. I had two rolls of .045 in there and they both looked the same. This was one time that I'm glad that I was low on wire. The roll of .023 I changed out was startig to rust, but wasn't nearly as bad. Thanks again.

More NTT Member Generosity!!!

It boggles the mind!!! The old Dougster continues to benefit from an amazing amount of NTT member generosity! This time from Nicahawk, distinguished member of the Kansas Delegation!!!

Look below to see not one but TWO great books on WELDING to help get the old Dougster off his butt and start making clumps of melted, spattered steel out of perfectly good pieces of scrap metal!!!

Once again, I humbly say Mucho Gracious!!!

Dougster

Dougster said:

It boggles the mind!!! The old Dougster continues to benefit from an amazing amount of NTT member generosity! This time from Nicahawk, distinguished member of the Kansas Delegation!!!

Look below to see not one but TWO great books on WELDING to help get the old Dougster off his butt and start making clumps of melted, spattered steel out of perfectly good pieces of scrap metal!!!

Once again, I humbly say Mucho Gracious!!!

Dougster

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Those books will give you something new to read while drinking your and waiting for You can put away those worn out PB's , just don't put them to far away!

Nicahawk said:

Mark, thanks for sharing with us. It's a product that I wasn't familar with, and I wish I had some. I changed wire today and dug out a 44# roll of .045 and did I get a shock. Rust...rust...rust! I hand spooled several, and I mean several, feet off trying to get down to good stuff......

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Gawd I hate that.....We made a clumbsy bicycle affair to save two bad rolls of .035 X 30# spools. Slowly cranking a feed from one spool to the other while hitting it with 320 grit dry sandpaper. Wish I could report how well that worked..... , but bad and dirty welds with porosity. I just threw them on the 'to be recycled' pallet of scrap steel.

Since then, I've used a heavy squirt of the goop for my spares of different sizes, wrap them in plastic trash bags and they store very well (rust free).

Nicahawk said:

Those books will give you something new to read while drinking your and waiting for You can put away those worn out PB's , just don't put them to far away!

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If it's okay with you, I'm gonna start with the THIN book and see what happens! That THICK book kinda scares me! In fact, the more I look at it, the more it scares me!!! If I need to know that much information to get going with welding, I'm gonna give up right now and pay the local welder guy his $50 per weld. All I'll need to do is figure out which bank to rob to get him his money and I'll be all set!

Think about this: That hard cover book is thicker than my Mark's Mechanical Engineer's Handbook and it took me 4 years to get through it!!!

Again, Thank you so much!!!

Dougster

Dougster said:

If it's okay with you, I'm gonna start with the THIN book and see what happens! That THICK book kinda scares me! In fact, the more I look at it, the more it scares me!!! If I need to know that much information to get going with welding, I'm gonna give up right now and pay the local welder guy his $50 per weld. All I'll need to do is figure out which bank to rob to get him his money and I'll be all set!

Think about this: That hard cover book is thicker than my Mark's Mechanical Engineer's Handbook and it took me 4 years to get through it!!!

Again, Thank you so much!!!

Dougster

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Dougster, you are so very welcome, and I agree about your choice of books. The welders hand book is much more practical for everyday welding. The other one is more on theory and is useful more as a reference book.

Nicahawk said:

Dougster, you are so very welcome, and I agree about your choice of books. The welders hand book is much more practical for everyday welding. The other one is more on theory and is useful more as a reference book.

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The latter could also serve to get me a better view at sporting events and also serve as both a bullet shield and defense weapon for my occasional trips into the big city!

Seriously, I think you are right. I will definitely start with the Welder's handbook!

Dougster